One-third of shadow IT services present significant risk to the enterprise

Dive Brief:

More than half (61%) of large enterprises now have a cloud governance policy in place to help control shadow IT, according to a new report from Sky High Networks. The company examined data for more than 30 million users worldwide for the report.

Dive Brief:

More than half (61%) of large enterprises now have a cloud governance policy in place to help control shadow IT, according to a new report from Sky High Networks. The company examined data for more than 30 million users worldwide for the report.

Among the organizations with a policy in place, Sky High found only 5.4% of cloud services in use were endorsed by the IT department, while 63.4% were permitted by IT, meaning IT allows their use with appropriate security controls.

However, almost one-third of services were “not allowed” by IT, meaning they presented significant risk to the organization.

Dive Insight:

Given the proliferation of cloud services and apps, IT can only control so much. With that comes the inherent threat that businesses will spend more than necessary on IT as well as purchasing solutions that are potentially already present in other parts of the business.

Today, IT can more easily be cut out of the equation, and in many cases it is. According to recent research by Accenture, 60% of the more than 1,800 survey respondents said IT does not have a significant influence on their choice of an “as a Service” provider, with 77% feeling that the IT organization lacks the skill sets for an as a Service world. In addition, 39% said that IT adds limited value during the as a Service selection process.

Though IT may be losing some of it its control over systems, much like CIOs, departments can remain relevant through leading by influence. Rather than dictate the technology that could be used, IT departments can help ensure the technology acquisition process goes smoothly and does not result in unnecessary spending or security risks.